By the time Naruto got to class, he could feel that something was going on. Not many noticed him of course, as he was currently 'wearing' a mostly black outfit with orange highlights that fit for once, making his muscles pretty obvious.
All the same, the halls were full of students gossiping instead of waiting in their classes. He relaxed and wove through the children, his attitude allowing him to slip through the crowd and into Iruka-sensei's classroom. Naruto sat near the back, relaxing his body into his arms as he slid into the desk.
Normally he would have been with the others, yelling and trying to find out exactly what was going on in the school. But aside from the normal reactions that would cause, he had already gathered a fairly good idea from overhearing the gossiping future ninjas on the way in.
By decree from the Hokage and due to recent discovered favoritism, all students would retake their graduation tests. Any who recently passed would either pass again, or if they had issues with the new and more strict test standard, they would be put on probation for three months and tested again. That should give them time to bring themselves back up to standard.
An untrained civilian would have found such a short window to be useless when it came to upgrading skills to shinobi levels, but chakra made all the difference. Sure it caused puberty to hit harder and earlier (Sorry Sasuke-teme), but it also encouraged and retained muscle growth, it accelerated healing, and it enhanced fitness in general and prevented injuries.
A student could gain years of results from just weeks of dedicated training, which made many of the failures in Naruto's class especially silly and avoidable, considering how low standards apparently were. True it would take years of chakra use before they could really enhance their muscles and bones to the fullest safely, unlike Naruto who had just been built from the ground up, but there was a reason that little bushy-brows Lee who was 'Unable to use Chakra' could walk around with tons of weight on his arms and legs and survive.
Naruto grimaced as one of the girls he had tried to 'date' shoved her way into the room. Sakura really was pretty cute, right up until she opened her mouth or smashed someone with her fist. He watched her fight another girl, Ino, as they battled their way to sit next to the super-emo boy, Sasuke.
It was really a tradition at this point, minus the screaming proud blond trickster that would normally stand up to proclaim the lameness of Uchihas everywhere. The more he thought about how he acted under those seals, the more embarrassing it was.
Well, he didn't need to fight for some loud girl's affection any longer. He had a new friend who liked him, and she was a billion times nicer and better looking and stuff. And she could do awesome goo things too.
Naruto reveled in the warm hug that Vixen sent him, both of them ignoring the slowly filling classroom. For ninjas, the children still hadn't picked up the importance of 'studying your environment', especially in a 'safe' place like their school, so most of the kids ignored or failed to notice the strange kid in black in the back.
A cute white-eyed girl, Hinata Hyuga, nearly tripped over herself. Naruto-kun was still here! AND he had a headband! Her whole body suddenly filled with a warm sparkly feeling. Ever since she had seen the boy fail despite all his determination and hard work, her world had felt colder and gray.
And not only was her favorite classmate here, but he was sitting next to her usual spot! She fought down her blushes as she sat next to the boy. "G-Good morning, Uzumaki-san!" Damn, she still stuttered. AND she was quiet a stupid mouse. Hopefully he would look over that.
Naruto jerked out of the short mental conversation and turned to the girl. Oh right, this was Hinata, that sickly girl who always... blushed... uh.
He ignored Vixen's giggling as she forced memories of the white-eyed child through his mind. Sickly? No, those were blushes. In fact, he noticed that in ALL his memories, she had been smiling at him or trying to share her lunch (At least until bullies had started destroying both their meals, and Naruto told her it was ok not to share.)
The boy gave an awkward smile. "Good morning, Hinata-chan. You can call me Naruto, you know? I've never had a chance to learn all the formal stuff." DANG why had he said that?! Change topic. "So did you hear what the hubbub in the halls were about?" Stay cool, if she liked you back when you were a mental moron, she should be FINE with you now!
Her blush spread but she seemed to find some sort of inner strength. "Hai, N-Naruto-kun. They said that we would be retested today, that there had been some sort of issues with the grades."
Naruto felt some of the pressure lift and gave a more normal smile. "Yeah, I know that Mizuki-sensei turned out to be a traitor. I managed to get my headband by turning him in when he tried to trick me. Turns out that several teachers were being less than fair in grading us."
Hinata blinked. "Really? How did you capture a Chunin?"
He grinned. "Aside from being awesome?" Her giggles were cute, really. "He had give me a fake mission to get the Forbidden Scroll from the Old Man and learn something from it. Turns out that having stupidly high chakra levels can be a plus with some of the more dangerous techniques, and I learned one heck of a skill."
Her stunned look caused him to grin. "How? I mean, how did you... That sounds nearly impossible! That's amazing Naruto-kun!" She blinked, blushed at his grin, but managed to give one back. "What technique did you learn?"
Naruto shrugged. "A cloning technique, one that has a massive cost to cast but that has equally awesome effects." He held up some fingers and counted off. "First of all, the clones get a chunk of chakra and all my current knowledge." He grinned at the girl. "That means that they have better control than me too, since they have lower chakra levels. Secondly, they are solid until they get a significant impact or wound, so they can do stuff for me like gather resources, set up traps, do chores, or just help out in a fight."
He leaned back in his chair, enjoying a chat with a possible friend (Well, a human one anyway) for the first time in years. "Anything they learn gets processed and shared with all the existing clones and me." His eyes narrowed. "I think there may be some sort of small mental connection going on as well. I can't give mental orders or anything, but when I tell some guys to do something, only the ones I was thinking of actually do it."
He waved a hand. "Basically if I ask for 10 helpers out of 100, there is no hesitation or pausing, the 10 I expected stand up. That can't be usual, you know? If I asked for 10 helpers out of the class, there would be all kinds of discussion or debate, even if we were all the same person."
Naruto leaned in, Hinata enthralled at the idea. "They do tasks that I wouldn't want to do, with a positive attitude. Even suicidal commands like replacing me if I am in a dangerous position that WILL get them popped. It's like doing my wishes make them happy or something. Heck, when I created some clones back when I felt a bit lonely, they actually did a bit of a slap-stick routine and made me feel better."
The girl blinked, in thought. "So you could use them for spying or such? Maybe scouting? I'm probably going to be on a scouting team if only for my eyes alone." She saw his confusion and waved a hand at her face. "My blood-line lets me see really far away in all directions, even through stuff. It takes a lot of training to pay attention to multiple things at once though, otherwise it's like having a really nice picture that is too big to see easily."
Naruto hmmed. "I bet if you learn the technique, you could designate sectors for each clone to watch to reduce your concentration load. They'd pop when they found something." He frowned. "But you probably wouldn't have enough chakra. Even Hokage-jiji can only make like 3 clones properly and safely. Most Jonins can't handle more than one. It's why the skill was on the forbidden scroll to begin with."
Hinata's eyes were huge. "B-But Naruto, didn't you say you could make 100 of them?"
He grinned. "Well, normally I can make much more than that..." His grin fell. "But I am currently using up most of my chakra due to some changes I went through a month ago. Classified stuff, but until I finish building up my full reserves, I can only make 20 clones max right now." He missed her expression and sighed. "I know investing this much energy for the future will be very helpful, but it is taking forever."
She hesitantly tapped his shoulder. "Changes?"
His face went thoughtful. "Well..." Quickly glancing around he gave her a foxy grin, sending her insides for a loop. "I can't TELL you, but if you were to happen to look through me with those eyes of yours..." The grin turned into a smirk. "No peeping below the belt of course!"
That did it. Hinata went full red and started tapping her fingers together, certain non-G rated thoughts circling her mind. "H-Hai Naruto-kun. And I won't tell anyone else." He watched her eyes strain and veins bulge as power pulsed in her sight. Oh... her eyes got kind of sparkly when she did that. Neat.
And she stared.
After a moment (And certainly NOT a quick glance in a certain impressive direction), she murmured. "Hokage-sama knows about this?"
He nodded, and shivered slightly as her eyes raked his body again. Vixen was doing that stupid wolf whistle.
She paused near his chest. "Is this the end of the changes, or are they ongoing?"
He tilted his head. "Not just ongoing, but changed by design. I can revert at any point, but right now we are testing different body setups for power and stuff."
Her eyebrow jumped. "We?"
Naruto grimaced and double checked that they were being ignored. "THAT one requires privacy to tell, and honestly it's an S class secret, if not greater." He frowned, grumbling. "Mind you, anyone who isn't me and shares it will be executed apparently. Not that it matters much since almost all the adults in the village know something about it..." He sighed.
Looking at Hinata, he gave it some thought. Here was a girl who had supported him even when he didn't know it, who cared about his goals and supported them, who put herself in the path of bullies to try and befriend him.
Giving a nod, he leaned in. "As much as I can't let this get around, it bothers me that some asshole in the village knows a lot about this and the one girl who acted like my friend doesn't. If we can get somewhere private, I'll fill you in then, alright?"
Her face could have burnt toast. "A-A-Alright, N-Naruto-kun."
Grinning, he leaned back. "Let's just go with the general cover story. A new friend of mine helped fix me after an assassination attempt went... really really well for me honestly. I'd say my life improved like 800% after that damn Anbu tried to kill me." Seeing her horrified expression he quickly put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, unlike the other attempts this one really did go great for me. Possibly the best thing that had happened in my life. You'll like her too, if you get to talk to her a bit, I'm sure of it."
Hinata's eyes were straining again, and he could almost feel her searching him for injuries. "But... well, you are feeling ok, right Naruto-kun?"
Naruto gave a big nod, smiling. "I am fine, Databayo. Better than that, honestly. Like a man who just escaped the desert and found ramen." He grinned at her weak giggle. "So I hate to admit it, but I only recently noticed how much you have been kind to me recently. Could you tell me about yourself?"
Over the next half hour or so the two children talked back and forth. Occasionally Hinata would scan his body, watching the strange insides shift even as her eyes traced his bizarre internal curves and twists. Somehow they were quite... beautiful. Like curled smoke, or fine art. And if she happened to glance at his newly defined and refined muscles, who can say? Vixen kept examining Naruto's memories of his classmates, finding Hinata to be one of the gems in this particular mud ball. She also kept making awkward comments about how squeezable Hinata looked, and other such 'She is just so cute!' comments.
Unfortunately life intruded, as a visiting Anbu and Iruka-sensei arrived and began passing out both pamphlets explaining what was going on and written tests. Eventually everyone settled down and focused. Well, except for some of the male students... the Anbu was wearing exposing armor after all and seemed to enjoy flaunting it.
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
Naruto grinned. For some reason, that test was VASTLY easier than the old ones! Hours of careful study by dozens of clones had turned out to be mostly pointless, even if he COULD now answer some of those damn questions from past tests. Heck, it made the previous times he took this test look insane by comparison. For the first time in his life, Naruto had been one of the first ones to finish. Also for the first time, Sakura and Sasuke were NOT in the first few. They honestly seemed stunned about something on their papers.
He had checked it twice before turning it in though. That one test that suddenly changed form after having chakra run through it had really made him paranoid about these things.
Now they were outside, getting ready for testing their physical skills. Unlike the last few tests, this time they were actually testing running speed, jumping height, accuracy while running, and a dodge course where Anbu would throw small balls and slowly increase in number.
Last time it was just an accuracy test, with shuriken and kunai.
And this time, Naruto flat out dominated. Years of having faulty equipment had forced him to adapt and learn to throw from nearly any grip or position and stay roughly on target. With his accelerated mind and enhanced body, and his new balanced equipment (Going to stores transformed for the win!) it had damn near been instinctual. Heck, he didn't NEED the auto-targeting feature Vixen could turn on in his eye, not from this short distance away. His speed made dodging effortless, although he almost dodged SO soon that they could re-aim. But he caught that and adjusted.
There were many open mouths and surprised faces when he finished the circuit. It was Hinata's eyes though that made him feel like this was all worth the hassle. They practically shimmered.
The other girls would have likely said something about Sasuke-teme's less than expected scores, but many had collapsed to the grass from exhaustion at this point. Even Hinata was a bit short of breath. They had to actually delay the spars due to how worn out most of the students were, something that made the Anbu and several witnesses frown.
Naruto and Hinata sat under a tree together, her father's unreasonable exercise plan having kept her active and Naruto's new body not even noticing the stress.
As the girls had been hit harder from the unexpected exercises, the boy's spars got going first. Not that Naruto cared really, he was enjoying sitting next to the slightly worn girl who had smiles in her white eyes.
Eventually he got called up, apparently facing Kiba Inuzaka, one of the clan heirs according to Hinata. Smug with his canine companion, Akamaru, Naruto had never really gotten along with the boy. Some kind of 'Alpha' thing maybe.
The feral child grinned. "At least I got an easy fight after all that exercise! Come on Akamaru, let's take this wimp down!"
Naruto ignored the few tired cheers the boy got as he moved into position, the blue-eyed blond instead took a stance that seemed to confuse the canine-like child for a moment before he pulled back both hands and smacked his fists together. "YEAH, we are going to tear you up! (Arf!)"
Iruka-sensei gave a sigh. "Kiba, you are not allowed to use any technique or chakra enhancement during this spar. And you WILL stop when I tell you to this time, I will not be having another child injured during a spar if I can help it." He glanced at Naruto. "Same rules for you, Naruto. This is a taijitsu spar only."
His feral grin seemed very confident. "No problem Sensei! We've got this in the bag!"
The fanged child waited until just as the battle commenced, and lept into battle, his hands curled into claws as he dashed forward.
At the last moment, Naruto reached out with his right hand, grabbed the incoming wrist, and tossed the boy over his shoulder. A loud snapping crunch occurred as Kiba hit the ground hard and at a bad angle, his bruised wrist hitting the ground in just the wrong way.
Naruto blinked at his stunned classmates. "What?"
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
Naruto grumbled, Hinata giggling at his expression as he mumbled, waiting for their turn to show their techniques. Apparently some of the students had claimed that it had been a rigged fight and convinced one of the Chunin teachers to get in the ring with Naruto.
Everyone went quiet again after Naruto tossed HIM out of the ring.
None of them hit like Gai-sensei. All those hours fighting a man who represented speed, power, and raw experience... these kids couldn't even hold a candle to that.
For the first time, Naruto actually felt disappointed. He had wanted to show off his speed, his new reflexes, how hard he had been training, and especially his awesome new fighting style!
And then he got a mutt who ran in swinging and a Chunin that clearly needed to retrain to his prime.
Hinata actually managed to squeeze his shoulder. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. It was still quite impressive."
He tried not to whine. "But Hinata-chan, I didn't even get to punch someone! I feel cheated."
They were interrupted as Hinata went to the front, did the three technique's as requested, and returned. Naruto blinked. "Hey, why didn't you do an extra ability for credit?"
She blinked before sighing. "My father... no, my clan does not look favorably on anyone who trains in abilities beyond our fighting style. We have to be up close and hit all the chakra nodes, and be refined and calm while doing so."
Naruto frowned. "But you said you can see really far away... Why let anyone get that close? Just throw a knife, get a bow, or learn some sort of long range technique." He glanced down at his body. "Or heck, learn that healing stuff. I gave up because I had WAY too much chakra, and they told me I need perfect control for that stuff. You could actually SEE the problems in your patients."
Hinata gave a weak smile before holding up her hand, giving a light green glow. "Don't tell my family, but I AM learning how to heal. It seems too useful to not know, but I would be punished heavily if they found out. I plan to blame the abilities on my new teacher, say that he or she forced me to once my team gets set up."
He grinned at her, one hand reaching out to almost touch the glow. "That is SO awesome. I don't need it due to how amazing I am, but I bet you could help LOTS of people one day!"
They were interrupted again as Naruto was called to the front.
Iruka-sensei gave him a conspiratorial grin. Their respect for each other had gone through the roof after the man had basically took a blade to the back to protect the boy. "Naruto, please show off the replacement technique."
And the boy was gone. Wait, there was a chair there now... the change had been so subtle that neither the teacher NOR the Anbu had caught it. Iruka turned with a big grin and saw his student behind their seats with a similar smile. "Well done indeed Naruto! I see you have been practicing a whole lot. Swap back and show me the transformation illusion technique."
Naruto replaced himself with the chair but frowned. "Sensei, if I learned something stronger than that one, I can do it instead, right?"
The teacher blinked. "Uh... Sure?"
With a puff of smoke, Naruto vanished and was replaced with... "Good job Naruto, it looks just like me! But how is it different."
Naruto-Iruka grinned and held out his hand. "I'm not using illusion, but pure transformation." His smile got larger the more gobsmacked the teacher looked. "Don't spread it around though. If I didn't trust Snake over there, I wouldn't have shared this with you two, especially not in class."
The Anbu with bright purple hair jerked. "What do you mean, you trust me?"
He grinned at her. "You stopped a guy in the mob from cutting my eye out when I was younger. It's why I never targeted you and a few others when I pranked the Anbu."
Turning from her shocked body language, he grinned. "And this last one should probably be kept secret, but lots of people know already and it is going to be a major part of my fighting style." He held his arms out with a grin. "Shadow Clone Technique."
Dozens of black cloaked ninjas appeared on the walls, ceiling, and the lower level, stunning the quietly talking class and causing Hinata to nearly pass out as her eyes eagerly activated to examine the eye candy.
Iruka-sensei sighed with a smile. "Well done, Naruto. And yes, completing... five... ten... twenty clones has achieved the require three needed." He chuckled. "No extra credit for creating them in Henged outfits, good job though."
The room vibrated slightly as the black ninjas all called out "HAI SENSEI!" and then vanished into small clouds of smoke.
Sure he had learned how to do this smokeless... But it looked AWESOME with smoke clouds! He was even working on changing the cloud color, making them really chakra expensive smoke bombs.
Iruka teased the boy by pretending to be deaf for a moment. "Any extra techniques you want to show off for extra credit? I can't really count the Chara control stuff with the wall walking, even though I was very impressed."
Naruto sighed and slumped. "No techniques really, I have been focusing on my blood-line these last few months." Hokage-jiji had pointed out that Naruto DID technically have at least one blood-line now, just one that couldn't be passed on easily since it required Vixen-chan to operate.
The Teacher, Anbu Snake, and the first row or two of students were all caught off guard with that. Iruka leaned forward. "Bloodline? Should you show it here?"
He nodded. "The Old Man said that since I activated it recently I should let my possible team-mates get used to it as well. A general overview of it has been released by the office today as required, so I won't be breaking any rules."
Snake chuckled. "Well let's see it kid. Kami knows it was hard enough keeping up with you before unlocking whatever you got."
Naruto grinned before taking a pose with his arms carefully held off both sides. "We are calling it the Biomass Bloodline, and it is basically extreme body modification like the Akimichi clan, but to a different degree."
He took a deep breath... and swung both arms, which had almost instantly twisted into a sword and shield. His right arm ended at the elbow, turning into a long thin bone blade with a black mass along the back, his skeletal hand visible but fused to the middle of the sharp weapon.
His left arm was much thicker and shorter now, a circular plate a little more than half his height, with serrated teeth spikes along the edges and outside, a strange mix of shield and sharp edges. His arm had also become thicker, and seemed to have developed an additional joint or elbow, allowing a much wider range of motion.
When Naruto heard one of the civilian girls faint, his face was smiling so hard it looked very fox like.
Before he realized it, he felt Snake slide behind him, tracing his arms down to the deadly weapon with her finger and breathing FAR too interestingly into his ear. "Oh my, Naruto. I see you've got something interesting down there."
His eye twitched, and he dashed to the side. Even though this defensive form was slower than his norm, in short jumps his agility was beyond impressive to both adults watching. He sighed. "Why are all the pretty women I meet perverts? I mean really."
Hinata tried not to blush but didn't look away. His changed arms were interesting, but his suddenly increased muscle mass and still lean body was far more so.
Snake chuckled as she leaned forward... a bit too much. "Now now, Naruto. You can't just show off your impressive tools without getting a little personal attention."
Iruka quickly cleared his throat, stepping between them, and made frantic hand gestures. "Well done Naruto. You can take your seat. Now. Go. Quickly."
Ah, the many uses for the replacement technique. His hands and shoulders reverted to base form as he reached Hinata who was not really meeting his eyes. He sighed... maybe he should have expected this. "Don't worry Hinata, I know it may look a bit gross when I change..."
She shook her head. "No, it's not gross. I've been training to be a medic after all, and desensitization was a big part of that." Her hand reached out to gently touch his arm, causing goosebumps to shiver down his spine. "It was just... really really interesting. Could you show me more later?"
Naruto glanced back towards the Anbu who looked grumpy that Iruka-sensei had saved the day. "Sure... but nowhere near that snake lady. Deal?"
Hinata giggled. "Deal."
Nothing really interesting happened for the rest of class, although a few of the others did some neat extra credit technique's too, like the guy with bugs in him, some sort of shadow manipulation, fireballs or whatever. Naruto and Hinata pretty much ignored them all.
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
The Hokage relaxed behind his desk, watching Naruto's class through one of the more valuable artifacts of his office, a sphere that used complex sealing arrays to view individuals or places within the village. The prospective team leads had also been enjoying the show, at least until they all realized exactly how little physical conditioning most of the new students had.
The old man puffed a nice smoke ring before focusing. "Any requests this year? Understand, more than a few of your possible students will need to hit very specific mile markers in their training within just three months." He lent forward. "This means that all of you MUST accept the possible teams, to get them up to standard. I will NOT have these children punished for the sins of their teachers."
There was quite a bit of grumbling, even from his son, Asuma. Apparently he had been planning on snatching a tried and true combination of Ino/Shika/Cho, the mind walking girl, the shadow binding puppeteer, and the body expanding tank. Which would have been fine really if his son had actually planned on teaching them rather than rely on their clan techniques to keep them alive.
He had been more than a bit disappointed by his team leads. Kurenai, the illusionist, seemed focused on little Hinata alone. Kakashi was stuck on Sasuke, since once Sasuke awakened his blood line they would both share the Sharingan, or copy-wheel eye. Yet until they had seen in person how advanced little Naruto was now, no one had even glanced his way. Did no one understand that appearances could be very deceiving? They were ninjas! HIS ninjas!
Perhaps sensing his darkening mood, several of the Jonins quickly made requests for various students, although many avoided the clan heirs and Naruto. The prestige of having a clan heir was offset by their probable attitudes... and apparently even showing how advanced he was, Naruto was suffering from prejudice again.
His temper hit a boil when Kakashi rolled up with a smile. "I request Sasuke Uchiha, as we share an eye condition." Oh he did not just wink. "I wouldn't mind either Ino or Sakura, they could probably make decent medics and they would work well with Sasuke. Oh, and Naruto Uzumaki."
Ignoring his son trying to claim Ino for his planned dream team, the old man settled. "And why young Naruto?"
The one-eye Jonin shrugged. "He seems to have a rivalry with Sasuke, which should help him stay motivated and hopefully unlock his eye powers sooner."
A random background Jonin smirked. "And the team could use a meat shield if nothing else."
A hand sign later and the man vanished, grabbed by Anbu. A heavy weight smothered the office as the Hokage rose to his feet, pipe clenched in his teeth. "Anyone else plan on using a young boy as dead meat for their team? Or as a disposable tool to enhance the rest?"
It was surprisingly quiet for a bit.
Eventually Kurenai raised her hand. "I was planning on setting up a tracking team with Hinata, Shino, and Kiba. Hinata could search for targets, Shino has his internal insects for analyzing smells and following targets, and Kiba had a bit of brute force and animal senses... but as he seems more hot-headed than I expected, Naruto could be a good replacement. I was unaware that he... no, that ANYONE could use Shadow Clones like that. Those were Shadow Clones, right?"
The old leader gave a small smirk as the other Jonin's jerked in shock, not having realized that the many clones in that room HADN'T been illusion. "You are correct, Kurenai. Naruto has also recently gained some substantial new abilities, not the least of which is a bloodline that would allow you to gain information even if the target commits suicide. Ask him for details later, he has been authorized to tell those he trusts."
In the end, Kakashi was given Kiba due to the boys lower marks thanks to tradition, the lowest and highest two being teamed together (A high test score couldn't repair years of grading sabotage). It was close, but Asuma did end up with his trio... and harsher requirements for them to pass as well (To his disappointment.) And Kurenai got Hinata, Shino, and a bunch of questions for a foxy student.
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
Naruto was vibrating with energy as he led Hinata to one of his favorite training grounds. He had a friend! And she was interested in the stuff Vixen had set him up with!
He ignored the virus's giggles as he nearly skipped to the training area. Ninjas could skip if they wanted. Unexpected and all that stuff.
The boy may have been on a bit of a high since realizing that the pretty girl talking to him in class HADN'T freaked out when his body did the whole turn-into-ooze-into-weapon thing. Though apparently another friend of hers was the quiet guy Shino Aburame, the one whose body is an actual hive for insects.
Compared to that, having a sword arm seemed almost normal. Especially since he could undo it with no issue.
Hinata followed him into his training area and seemed a bit overwhelmed when twenty Naruto clones split off and walked towards the stream nearby. "S-So you've been training in water walking?"
Naruto had cleared an area that he normally used for his fighting stances to get a bit of elbow room. "After I mastered tree walking, I got to the point where I can literally sleep upside-down on a branch. I want to get to that same level with water walking."
He turned and gave her a big grin. "Now the form I showed in class was only a partial transformation, it's not really finished yet but we've made some great progress on it. So don't be too harsh criticizing it yet, ok? This is like WAY before battle ready."
She turned away from the multiple slightly wet muscular Naruto clones with a bit of a blush. "Hai, may I use my bloodline to view the changes?"
Naruto nodded. "Anytime Hinata, it's fine." He flexed sharply, then leaned forward. "This form when fully activated has a tough time talking, so let me know when to change back. It is meant to be very damage resistant even if a bit slow, and to block damage away from team members or clients."
And he exploded.
Within moments black ooze surged up and out, quickly forming a rough black mass with a huge blob of twisting teeth and bone for a left hand while the right seemed to spiral in on itself and seep into its own elbow. Rapidly color returned.
The beast was damn near 4 meters tall and 2 meters wide, a wall of muscle easily twice Hinata's height. The skin now looked like black stone instead of wet tar, with thousands of white bone plates covering the huge chest.
It's left hand was a massive shield with a spiral of teeth, of black claws, and another of gray horns, a spiral that started almost flat in the middle of the shield and with each spiral grew into sharp warnings at the rim of the huge, circular shield.
The right hand was just gone. The elbow now looked hollow and filled with sharp white twisty points, a deadly bone blade protruding from the center.
And it had no head.
Naruto's chest now had what almost seemed to be a bright blue stone necklace. Eyes that twisted and turned, focused without eye lids. The eyes looked like a string of beads due to the size of the monster, and looped from the right to the left side of his shoulders like a necklace.
It seemed to have no mouth, to not breath at all, until her vision showed the tiny flaps on the creatures back, each filtering the air farthest away from whatever Naruto was fighting.
At first she thought it had no feet, but its legs were now thick, armored trunks that made the entire creature almost look like a solid tombstone holding a shield.
And like roots from a rose, blood red pulsing veins spread from the eyes and down the body, almost as if it were being held together by those eyes that were looking everywhere.
Hinata felt more than a bit shocked that the entire process had fascinated her. It was like some inner part of her friend had escaped a prison, she could almost FEEL the joy radiating from those beautiful blue eyes, all of them looking around as if for the first time.
She gently touched the outside of the hollow arm, feeling his warm heat. "C-Can you move like that? Did it hurt?"
The eyes sparkling with mirth told her she was worried about nothing.
Several minutes later, the boy reformed, and they began talking about his abilities in more depth. After discovering that Naruto could obtain bloodlines from devouring an opponent, something he had expected a large negative reaction about really, she had paused.
Looking at her hand, she tilted her head. "Naruto-kun, do you have to eat a whole person or just get a small bit? What if you took some of my hair or blood?"
He blinked before hearing Vixen whisper. "Well, if I don't consume the brain then I won't get things like memories, automatic control of the new body, or whatever. I would be like a newborn baby with a grown body basically... but I have some help with that."
Naruto sighed, and motioned her to sit near him by a tree. "Remember that big secret I was talking about? Look around for me. If no one is near, then I will give the basic overview of the situation."
Her eyes sparkled and seemed to flex slightly. "One civilian 300 feet away, other than that there are a few animals. They seem to just be creatures though, not anyone transformed."
He grinned before sobering. "Yeah, well... good." Naruto sighed. "Alright, I guess we should just get this out of the way. What do you know about the day I was born? October 10th, I mean."
She frowned. "You mean besides the Kyuubi attack?"
A weak smile caught her off guard. "Yeah, that. Turns out, the Bijuu are just lots of intelligent energy. Can't destroy them easily. So the Forth Hokage had to seal it away." He looked over at his clones, working away on the water. "Couldn't use an object, it would shatter from the power. Heck, couldn't use most children for the same reason. It would have to be a child that would have large Chakra reserves already, that would be most likely to adapt to such a huge power source."
Her confusion suddenly vanished half way through his words. He nodded. "Uzumaki's always had large Chakra reserves. Healthy too, we tend to live longer than most clans or civilians."
He continued, ignoring her expression. It was easier to talk while watching the water. "Life got... a bit rough for me after that. Turns out that most of the attacks, poisonings, and all that stuff was due to this one Anbu guy, the one I mentioned before who tried to off me."
Naruto jerked slightly, feeling her wrap him in a hug, bringing a small smile to his face. "In a way, I am very grateful to him, you know? His final attempt to kill me was to get a whole bunch of dangerous stuff, mix it together, and inject me with it. I think he planned on blowing up the rest after, but he didn't get that far."
Hearing her gasp made him feel a bit warm inside. Vixen just thought the pair were precious. "Anyway, the Kyuubi tried to help the stuff along, apparently he had been trying to kill me from birth but the Hokage had put in all kinds of safety stuff in his seal to protect me. At the last moment, I knocked myself out, modified his cage to let the goo into it, and hoped for the best."
His smile was soft. "The virus ended up consuming the Bijuu entirely, and became alive, a person. She had the memories of the fox and all previous human containers that once locked him up, and she decided to help me."
Hinata gave a watery smile at that, still holding tight.
He grinned. "So yeah, if I just got a bit of a person like hair or blood, I could with her help recreate his or her body. She would also help recreate basic things, like how to breathe or walk and all that. Would still act like me of course, without getting their mind and stuff."
They sat for a bit before the girl held up a hand. "So... if you took some blood, could you make eyes like mine?"
Naruto felt touched, but gently put her hand down. "Maybe, I guess. And someday we might do something like that... but I would rather not give people ammunition to attack either of us. For now, I'll only gather bloodlines or skills from enemies of the village. But... thank you Hinata."
Their conversation lasted longer than it probably should have, but he got to walk a pretty girl home. Some things were worth missing some training time for.
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
Vixen and Naruto had a late night, debating on what policies they should have when working in or out of the village, even if that seemed less than likely for a while.
While charging the various seals with power was a non-issue within the village, it would be too dangerous to dedicate such a large chunk of his power when in enemy territory. Instead his cells would only absorb the ambient chakra most living beings released naturally, what would normally be detected as his 'Chakra Signature'.
Aside from avoiding waste, it would also make him feel like a civilian to low level sensors. Maybe even trick a Jonin or two if they were not focusing on him. True, it was nothing compared to the progress he had made when focusing the majority of his power into storage, but needs had to be handled.
The forms ready for use had to be trained as well. Sure he could just accept damage and then ignore it, consuming any foe... but Naruto refused to accept mediocre results, especially not now that he was making real progress as a bad-ass ninja!
They also hashed out when and who to consume, and for what reasons. Survival was high on that list, only exceptions being if the action would endanger his few friends or loved ones. Vixen had also mentioned some bloodlines she really wanted to get her hands on.
Obviously she focused on lines that worked with biology. From the Fox's memories, many abilities were focused on having special eyes (And being able to grow as many as he wanted... well, wasn't that convenient!) Yet aside from those, like Hinata's, she wanted ones more useful.
There was a clan Naruto had never heard of called the Rinha clan, who seemed to have a similar ability to him, as they could simply absorb chakra from a target and gain their appearance and memories. It would let him copy team-mates without consuming their brain (And wouldn't that be nice?)
Another one was going to be... unlikely to be found. The Kaguya clan was supposedly near extinction back when the fox had heard of it, much less now. But they had extreme control over their own bones, able to create new ones or weapons out of bone, and harden them to diamond-like levels.
All other bloodlines were really just rumors or myths, at least the ones Vixen was interested in were. There was an eye blood line called Kerryugan, which would allow one to control the iron in blood... but no one knew which clan carried it. Oh there were rumors of course, from the Gavranare clan to the Chinoike clan, but rumors were all she could find. The only reason the fox bothered to learn THAT much was because it was supposedly able to cast illusions like the Sharingan.
Of course, with so little fact it may just make your eyes red. Obviously it hadn't taken off or became as famous as the other bloodlines.
Everything else was just going to be taken if available kind of thing, unless an opportunity came up. Naruto honestly felt that bloodlines were a tool, not the be all and end all of being a ninja.
Anyway, Vixen had a small list of ones to listen for, as well as a general order to keep alert for any that allowed body modification. It was an easy item to agree on, so they moved on to the more... controversial topics.
Vixen had noticed that Naruto had at one point removed his shirt while working out. The shirt that was made of his own LIVING tissue.
Apparently when he wasn't paying attention, his clothing (body parts) had no problem being separated. They were still connected via chakra to Vixen, they could still absorb oxygen and other needs. And when he put it back on, it had no issue reconnecting.
Further, it didn't seem to have a max range since he had sealed his chakra into the cells. That power would prevent them from changing or mutating, preventing some sort of viral mutation or outbreak. It would ensure that the virus left behind was still his, was still under his control.
And strangely, the grim reapers seal had no issue being connected to two separate places at the same time... or even more than two. Why not? It was made by the concept of Death itself after all.
Thus Naruto had an option no one else had before.
He could make a backup.
After talking back and forth (And as it was nearing daybreak anyway), They decided this was a good way of storing the extra mass he was building up. If he had unsealed all the Biomass stored in his cells, he would weigh several tons by now simply due to the massive amount he consumed and his lack of creating waste.
After all, he didn't eat by normal chemical means. His body converted matter into raw material and stored it until needed. No need for the restroom and all that.
So he still had the matter from that ramen three weeks ago, processed, refined, and stored.
And finally, he had a use for all that mass.
Before heading to the Academy he had retreated to one of his safety holes, one that had saved his life back when he was eight years old and had been chased by a mob.
By the time he reached class, Vixen had modified the massive blob left behind and had converted it into a strange worm like shape with a sharp mouth, one that began to consume soil slowly as it dug deeper into the earth. She had already designed a mostly normal looking tree like structure that would eventually grow from the spot, that used the biology she studied from Naruto's experiments to actually convert sunlight and water from the worm (once it reached the water table) to create even more mass.
It had made Naruto feel a bit strange, like an arm he couldn't see digging into a beach. He was of course still connected to the mass as it slowly grew into something like a... nest? More like a hive really. It was constantly shifting as Vixen experimented, trying to optimize the mass generation and water collection.
He shivered as he felt a worm get consumed, then shivered again as Vixen quickly used information from that worm to make the mass dig faster with less energy required. It wasn't a bad feeling, but very odd.
Seeing Hinata, he gave her a wave that she tentatively returned as he headed to her.
At least they would have team placement over with after today. He hoped for the best.
~~~Prototype Ninja~~~
Iruka worked his way down the list, hearing Kiba groan at being stuck with the 'Emo-bitch' Sasuke, and trying to ignore the chaos the comment had caused. Just a few more minutes and they were all someone else's problem.
He loved teaching, but no one had control of children when they knew they were about to graduate.
Still, he sighed as the shouting just got to a new level. A quick hand sign and an illusion made his head massive. "SIT DOWN AND SHUT IT!"
His glare could melt stone.
Quiet? Damn right it was quiet. "Moving on, Team 8 will consist of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Naruto Uzu-"
"WAHOO! Take that Sasuke-teme, I get the cool team-mates!"
Iruka felt his eyebrow twitch at the havoc once again running in the class. "If you would like to live long enough to make it to lunch, I would heavily suggest everyone SIT DOWN AND LISTEN!"
Finally, some quiet. "Anyway, Team 8 will be led by Kurenai Yuhi, please follow her."
An attractive, red-eyed woman stood forth from the other Jonin at the front, apparently amused at Naruto's declaration and how Hinata had at some point zoned out in her chair. "Alright kids, follow me to Training Ground 8, I'm sure you've had enough class today."
A 'Yatta!' and from somewhere a 'Troublesome' later, and team 8 moved through the crowds toward the training areas.
Naruto had quickly introduced himself to Shino with Hinata still slightly dazed and smiling.
The boy was... uh. Serious. Calm. It honestly felt strange to the boy, who had so much energy that he even relaxed hard core. Still, Shino didn't seem stuck up like Sasuke, just... laid back. Like the world was willing to just wait until later.
It wasn't bad really, and he answered any questions asked in a slightly slow, but polite manner. Of course, each answer was a bit... odd.
"I am a husk, one that contains my hives and kikaichu. Why? Because we grow and evolve together to make ourselves stronger."
"I enjoy breeding new mutations of insects. Why? Because they may gain advanced abilities or refine existing techniques and make us stronger."
"I think we are near the training grounds. Why? Because Kurenai-sensei is slowing and there is a clearing ahead."
Strange, but not bad. Naruto nudged Hinata since they seemed to have arrived (Thanks Shino) and she was still a bit... loopy. Cute though.
They all gathered and sat on a larger stone near the edge of the training ground and got comfortable, before Kurenai gave them a warm smile. "All right, we are now team 8, a tracking team. As Iruka-san mentioned in class, I am Kurenai Yuhi, feel free to call me Kurenai-sensei. So, how about some introductions?"
Seeing the three children were agreeable she smiled. "Alright, I'll go first. Kurenai Yuhi, I focus on using illusion techniques primarily although I am one of the more qualified taijitsu users in the village. I am a sensor and plan to have us as both an information gathering team and personnel tracking team. My likes include evening drinks, octopus with wasabi, and reading. I dislike cake, sometimes my friend Asuma, and people who insult the ability of illusions on the battle field."
She smiled at the three. "I actually have a strange elemental type, the mental one, Yin actually. It is partly why I have had such success focusing on illusion. My dream is to one day create an inescapable illusion." Turning she pointed at Shino on the left. "Your turn, Shino."
The boy was mostly covered up, but he still pushed his blacked sun glasses further up. "Shino Aburame. I utilize my hives primarily in combat, although I have a little training in using some basic earth techniques. Why? Earth is mainly defensive in nature, and allows me to control the shape of the battlefield."
He adjusted his shades. "I like insects in general, the study of natural poisons and nature itself, as well as wild grass salads and winter melon. I dislike barbecue or other strong smelling foods. Why? I prefer a mostly vegetarian diet out of respect of the majority of my hives. Should I move toward more carnivorous nests, this may change. My family had my affinity tested, and I had strong earth affinity and low fire affinity. My dream is to find a brand new species of insect."
Kurenai was surprised, most families didn't bother testing their children's affinity until their Jonin teachers brought it up. It might be clan related. She turned to dear Hinata and gave a warm smile. "And you Hinata-chan?"
The girl seemed to snap back into focus from whatever warm happy place she had been floating for the last few minutes. Blushing, she gave a short bow even though they were seated. "Hinata Hyuga. I use my clan techniques for short range disabling or damaging of foes."
She seemed too distracted still to notice that she wasn't stuttering. "Our clan doesn't test for affinities at all, and discourage training in any techniques or tools other than our bloodlines. I have been secretly training in medical techniques, and hoped to hide our training from my family if possible."
After a deep breath, she gave a small smile. "I like Na... my friends." Well, she was focused now, and her face was bright red. After a small cough she continued. "I... I press flowers, enjoy cinnamon rolls and red bean soup. I dislike crab and shrimp, as well as certain judgmental people. My dream is to one day free my family from the caged bird seal."
Kurenai winced hearing that last one. Clan politics, NO thank you. "And you sunshine?"
Naruto gave her a huge smile. "YOSH! Naruto Uzumaki, accept no substitutes!" He raised his hands behind his head and looked up. "My fighting style has really changed recently after the last assassination attempt failed, so now I am a mostly close range melee fighter."
Absently he waved a hand, twenty clones appearing behind him in formation. "That said, I mostly plan to use clone tactics, for training, fighting, everything. I have ridiculous levels of chakra, not counting my special situation."
Glancing at Shino he sighed. "You should know Shino that I have two S-ranked secrets, maybe higher, that only I am permitted to share without consequence. Our sensei probably knows already and I confessed to Hinata yesterday, but if we are going to be a team we should cover it."
Turning to Hinata, he gave a questioning look. After seeing her eyes flash and then give a nod that the cost was clear, he sighed.
Smacking his stomach, missing Kurenai's stunned expression at how straight forward he was being. "When the nine tailed fox attacked, they needed a strong vessel. Couldn't use inanimate objects, the fox is the strongest Bijuu after all, and couldn't use most children, the raw power would have killed them."
He sighed. "My clan apparently is naturally stronger thanks to a bloodline giving higher levels of chakra and longer lifespans. So I got the fox sealed inside."
Shino looked stunned.
Naruto gave a rueful grin. "It gets worse. The fox apparently had been sealed before, so he was uh... pissed basically when he got stuck in me. Spent most of my life trying to get me killed."
Settling back on the rock he continued. "On the last attempt at assassination the Fox tried to help out the gunk killing me, and accidentally got eaten himself. The goo gained a mind after eating intellectual raw power, and she has been helping me ever sense."
Waving his right arm into a long, sharp bone blade, he grinned at the shocked teachers expression. "The new S-ranked secret is that my body got remade, and I can continue to change it however we wish. I rarely need sleep, I don't really get tired, and I can consume others to gain their powers, their memories, and their bloodlines. And yes, I already told the old man about this."
Seeing everyone but Hinata gapping at him in shock, he blinked. "Uh... so. I guess I should talk about how much I like ramen now?"
Needless to say, there was going to be an adjustment period with his new team, based on how a couple of them have zoned out.
